THE LIFE OF MATTER. 417 



tion is a response to iu sthnulation, a provoked plienoinenon. It is 

 not necessary to say that jb is tille same with ])rute })odies, since that 

 is precisely in what consists the great principle of the inertia of matter. 

 It is plain that it is also as applicable to living as to inanimate matter. 



V. 



SPECIFIC FORM. LIVINCi BODIES AND CRYSTALS. 

 1. SPECIFIC FORM AND CHEMICAL (CONSTITUTION. 



In the enumeration which we have made of the essential features of 

 vitality there are three that have, so to speak, a prime value. These 

 are, in the order of their importance: The possession of a specific 

 form; the faculty of growth, or nutrition; and linaily, the faculty of 

 reproduction by generation. By restricting our comi)arison l^etween 

 brute bodies and living bodies to these truly fundamental characters 

 we restrict the field, but we shall see that the resemblances do not 

 disappear. 



Wide distrihutlon of erystalUne foriii.^. — In the mineral world we 

 have only to consider crystallized bodies, they being almost the only 

 ones that possess definite foruL In restricting ourselves to this cate- 

 gory we do not limit our field so much as might be supposed. Crys- 

 talline forms are widely distributed. They are, in a manner, uni- 

 versal. Matter has a decided tendency to assume these forms whenever 

 the physical forces which it obeys act with order and regularity and 

 their action is not disturbed b}' accidental occurrences. In the same 

 wa}^, too, living forms are onl}- possible in regulated environments, 

 under normal conditions, protected from cataclysms and convulsions 

 of nature. 



The possession of a specific form is the most significant feature of 

 an organized being. Its tendency, from tlie time it begins to develop 

 from the germ, is toward the acquirement of that foruL Tiie pro- 

 gressive manner in which it seeks to realize its architectural plan in 

 spite of the obstacles and difficulties that arise — healing its wounds, 

 repairing its nmtilations — all this, in the eyes of the philosophical 

 naturalist, forms what is perhaps the most striking characteristic of a 

 living being, that which best shows its unity and its individuality. 

 This property of organogenesis seems preeminently a vital property. 

 It is not so, however, for crystalline bodies possess it in an almost 

 equal degree. 



The parallel between the crystal and a living being has been often 

 drawn. We will not reproduce it here in detail. We wish only, after 

 having sketched its principal features, to call attention to the new 

 matters concerning it that have been brought out by recent investi- 

 gations. 



SM 1902 27 



